Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Report/Press release | September 19, 2011
The European Union cannot rely solely on the strength of its values to defeat the threat of religious extremism, Dr Charles Tannock MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists Group spokesman on foreign affairs said today ahead of a major debate in the European Parliament on the way such extremism is affecting Europe’s security and cohesion.
The debate, ‘Murder in the name of God’, is being hosted by Dr Tannock and organised in conjunction with the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ahmaddiya Muslim Community and the South Asia Democratic Forum. It will take place on Tuesday 20 September at 17.00 in room PHS 3C50 of the European Parliament.
Ten years after the 9/11 attacks in the US, the danger posed by religious extremism to the democratic values of European Union countries remains acute, Dr Tannock will warn in his speech at the meeting.
He added that the EU’s values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law were under unprecedented attack from what he termed the ‘asymmetric threat’ of religious extremism – in particular Islamist jihadism – and he urged European politicians to be more imaginative and resolute in developing enduring policies to counter and dilute the influence of religious extremism.
Dr Tannock also drew attention to the EU’s role highlighting religious extremism and persecution outside the EU.
He drew attention, as an example, to the intimidation and violence regularly suffered by Ahdamiyyah Muslims in Pakistan, where the authorities, according to national legislation, consider Ahmadiyyahs to be apostates. This leaves them vulnerable to violence and intimidation from some extremist elements.
Pakistan sadly retains a number of highly discriminatory laws, the pratical effect of which is to isolate and ostracize religious minorities – not only Ahmadiyyas but Baha’is and Christians too.
Dr Tannock said:
“The ideology that has spawned violent extremism has its roots in a distorted interpretation of religion – be it Islam, Christianity or any other faith.
“Sometimes the links made with religion are direct and overt, in other cases they are subtle and more obscure, but in all cases they are used to project a moral sense of purpose for what is simply cold-blooded murder in the name of God.
“International experience has shown that religious ideology is usurped by extremists for their own purposes and Europe is no exception.
“The question is whether enough is being done to check its growth and to neutralise its root causes.
“Religious extremism and the violence it encourages poses a serious threat to our democratic societies in the EU.
“Political leaders in Europe need to fully face up to the nature of this threat and propose lasting and robust measures to deal with what could become an unprecedented menace to our way of life.”
According to the press release, Dr Tannock and fellow speakers will be available for interview outside room PHS 3C50 from 16.00 on Tuesday 20 September.
Other speakers in the debate include Dr John Bew from the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Sofia Lemmetinyen from Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Read original post here: "Unprecedented danger of religious extremism demands new thinking" | Charles Tannock, MEP
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.